University of Colorado regents voted 8-1 to fire controversial professor Ward Churchill this afternoon.
Regent Cindy Carlisle, D-Boulder, cast the lone dissenting vote. There was no discussion.
After the quick vote, dissenters in the crowd at the Glenn Miller Ballroom shouted "bullshit" and "cowards."
Regent Steve Bosley, R-Louisville, introduced the motion for dismissal shortly after the regents convened, and it was seconded by Regent Kyle Hybl, R-Colorado Springs.
Churchill supporters converged in the back of the ballroom after the vote, playing drums and chanting.
CU President Hank Brown, during a news conference, said that Churchill has not showed regret for his academic-misconduct violations and the university has no room for a scholar who wants to "continue to falsify" history.
Pat Hayes, chairwoman of the board, said Carlisle agreed with the findings, but would not go so far to say that the professor should be fired. Carlisle was not present at the news conference.
"She understood the work of the Privilege and Tenure Committee," Hayes said.
That committee, made up of faculty members, had recommended Churchill be suspended without pay for a year and demoted.
Carlisle has consistently raised concerns about faculty governance during public board meetings.
Some reporters were locked out of a full UMC room where the pro-Churchill press conference took place.
Margaret LeCompte, a CU education professor, descibed the firing as a "procedural hijacking."
She said conservative foundations and alumni have threatened to pull donations if Churchill wasn't fired.
"When money talks, CU listens," LeCompte said.
Hadley Brown, a CU student-body president, said she is disappointed by the suppression of faculty and student dissent.
Churchill's attorney, David Lane, said: "The only surprise today is that it took so long and that we got one vote."
It sends an atrocious message to the academic community, Lane said, and there is a chilling effect on free speech.
"We are now on offense," he said.
He said he is filing a First Amendment lawsuit Wednesday morning.
"Within a year, hopefully, we will have a trial," Lane said. "We are out of kangaroo court and going into real court."
Churchill said he will not negotiate his rights.
"I am going nowhere," Churchill said after the vote.
He said the university has created the "illusion" of a scholarly review.
The dismissal of the controversial professor is the first of its kind in CU’s 131-year history — the university never before had fired a tenured professor on the grounds of academic-misconduct.
The academic-misconduct case — which has wrapped the Boulder campus in controversy for the past 2 1/2 years — has touched off debate about academic freedom, scholarly fraud, tenure and the political climate after Sept. 11, 2001.
CU President Hank Brown and Regent Pat Hayes are expected to hold a press conference in the University Memorial Center shortly for reporters with media credentials.
Churchill, his attorney, David Lane, and supporters are planning to simultaneously hold a separate news conference, also in the UMC. Professional credentials are required at this event as well because organizers say they want to prevent physical threats against the controversial professor, and squelch the potential for any disruptions.
Churchill and his attorney say that the case is far from being over, and they plan to file a First Amendment lawsuit in Denver District Court as soon as Wednesday.
The firebrand professor first sparked controversy in 2005 with his essay on Sept. 11, 2001, that called some victims of the terrorist attacks "little Eichmanns," a reference to a notorious Nazi. Churchill says he has been the target of a right-wing attack on academic freedom.
They argue that the university is retaliating against Churchill for his controversial speech and has wanted to fire him since he first sparked controversy in 2005. Lane has described the CU process as a "kangaroo court" and Churchill has called the proceedings a "charade."
An investigative panel of scholars that was set up to investigate academic-fraud charges against the professor issued a report in 2006 detailing patterns of deliberate misconduct and "shoddy research." The report accused Churchill of plagiarizing passages from other scholars and twisting facts to bolster arguments.
Churchill filed counter-complaints last week defending his research and alleging the panel members, in the report, plagiarized material and fabricated evidence to build up the case against him.
The regents’ pivotal vote came after a day-long hearing where the board heard legal arguments from three sides: Churchill, who was fighting to keep his tenured job; a faculty panel that recommended Churchill be suspended without pay for one year and demoted; and the university that pushed for dismissal.
CU President Brown in May recommended that Churchill be dismissed. The recommendation backs an earlier one made by Phil DiStefano a year ago, when he was serving as the Boulder campus’s top administrator.
Finally, the board will hear from the legal counsel representing CU’s Privilege and Tenure Committee, the faculty panel that came out with a softer recommendation after reviewing the case. The committee recommended that Churchill be suspended without pay for one year and demoted.
Confidentiality rules require that the hearing be held behind closed doors because the case is a personnel matter.
Churchill’s case represents the first time a CU professor with the job protection known as tenure has been fired for academic-misconduct, although the university has dismissed two other faculty members.
CU in 2004 fired R. Igor Gamow for "moral turpitude" after seven women accused him of sexual assault and harassment.
The university dismissed Mahinder Uberoi in 2000 for reasons that haven’t been made public. He had filed eight lawsuits over six years against the university, claiming everything from racial discrimination to hazardous laboratory working conditions and violations of the state‘s Open Records Act.

BucEyedPea

07-25-2007, 11:05 AM

The Brownshirting of America continues.

I don't like most of his ideas but so long as there are a variety of opinions in college professors there is no threat.

Radar Chief

07-25-2007, 11:12 AM

The Brownshirting of America continues.

I don't like most of his ideas but so long as there are a variety of opinions in college professors there is no threat.

How about lying about his credentials? Does that factor into your “Brown Shirting” conspiracy theory?

Mr. Kotter

07-25-2007, 11:46 AM

The Brownshirting of America continues.

I don't like most of his ideas but so long as there are a variety of opinions in college professors there is no threat.

You, apparently, don't know the specifics of this case. Seriously. Look into them. This guy is an assclown of epic proportions. It has much less to do with politics, or outrageous opinions....as sheer incompetency and utter disregard for academic standards.

There is no excuse for defending a clown like Churchill--other than ignorance, or sheer unadulterated ideological myopia that impedes one seeing him for what he is.

Cochise

07-25-2007, 11:48 AM

I don't really care for this. We need people like Ward Churchill out there showing us what pure, unadulterated liberalism looks like.

At least he's not afraid to say what he really thinks.

Adept Havelock

07-25-2007, 12:26 PM

I don't really care for this. We need people like Ward Churchill out there showing us what pure, unadulterated liberalism looks like.

What took so long? He can't be fired for saying something stupid and inflammatory. He can be fired for plagiarism, and he was. As for why the investigation took so long?

My guess is the University didn't want to get another public black eye immediately after this idiot ran off at the mouth. They also (foolishly, IMO) didn't want to be seen as being pushed to a decision by folks outside the University. A desire to avoid nonsensical rhetoric like you posted above is also probably part of it.

Glad they found some legitimate grounds to drop kick this fool. There is no place for plagiarism in academia.

noa

07-25-2007, 12:48 PM

Radar Chief, you're just a mini-Eichmann

Adept Havelock

07-25-2007, 12:55 PM

Radar Chief, you're just a mini-Eichmann

ROFL

I don't know...he's always seemed a bit more of a mini-Guderian to me. ;)

BucEyedPea

07-25-2007, 02:14 PM

I seem to recall a certain politician by the name of Joe Biden once being accused of plagiarism and he still has his job. In fact, many politicians lie about their war credentials or lack thereof....or much more. Resume fraud is rampant
in our society too.

As far as I am concerned the investigation into Ward Churchill is date coincident to his outrageous political statements about 9/11. That taints this investigation, and it's supporters imo. If it was done prior to 9/11 I'd feel differently.

I see it as having less to do with concerns over plagiarism than it does his political views, views he never hid when he was hired. In fact Churchill denies the charges and his lawyer plans to sue and take the case to the people with a jury of his peers. Just as I awaited the Libby scandal's final results I will do so with this. And don't think faculty panels don't suffer from the human trait of bias and witch hunts because I've seen it.

I just don't understand feeling threatened by an obscure professor who is a leftover 1960's hippy fossil. This was political far more than academic credentials and protocols. 9/11 changed everything.

Mr. Kotter

07-25-2007, 02:19 PM

I seem to recall a certain politician by the name of Joe Biden once being accused of plagiarism and he still has his job. In fact, many politicians lie about their war credentials or lack thereof....or much more.

As far as I am concerned the investigation into Ward Churchill is date coincident to his outrageous political statements about 9/11. That taints this investigation, and it's supporters imo. If it was done prior to 9/11 I'd feel differently.

I see it as having less to do with concerns over plagiarism than it does his political views, views he never hid when he was hired. In fact Churchill denies the charges and his lawyer plans to sue and take the case to the people with a jury of his peers. Just as I awaited the Libby scandal's final results I will do so with this. And don't think faculty panels don't suffer from the human trait of bias and witch hunts because I've seen it.

I just don't understand feeling threatened by an obscure professor who is a leftover 1960's hippy fossil. This was political far more than academic credentials and protocals.

FWIW, I have a friend who is on the faculty at CU. While she and other faculty are concerned about the precedent this sets, and the momentum it could create....make no mistake, Churchill is an incompetent loony bird. He is not respected by his peers; at least not the credible ones. Period.

So you are just plain wrong. Sorry BEP.

BucEyedPea

07-25-2007, 02:33 PM

FWIW, I have a friend who is on the faculty at CU. While she and other faculty are concerned about the precedent this sets, and the momentum it could create....make no mistake, Churchill is an incompetent loony bird. He is not respected by his peers; at least not the credible ones. Period.

So you are just plain wrong. Sorry BEP.
Except I never said anything regarding his competence, his looniness or his views (radical left) though. So I'm not wrong about anything there.
Secondly I added imo. An opinion is neither wrong or right. You just don't agree.

On the other hand I know a good conservative who taught history at HS level from a conservative pov and he was told he could no longer teach it. He has to teach math only now. Anyhow, that inner city Boston Massachusetts school administration considered the conservative pov loony just as you consider Churchill's. In fact I've seen the left here in this BB say some things you say, which I considered accurate politically, as being false or loony and that America's children aren't safe due to it. So this sword cuts both ways.

I could care less about your friend says because if that was so Churchill should have been off-loaded long ago. There plenty more incompetent profs that don't get off loaded and there are plenty more radical leftist's teaching. Regardless we are all subjected to our own biases wittingly or unwittingly. This is tainted due to what Churchill said about 9/11 due to the timing of his dismissal. IMO<----please note.

Radar Chief

07-25-2007, 02:59 PM

Radar Chief, you're just a mini-Eichmann

Shiza! My goose-step is showing.

stevieray

07-25-2007, 03:06 PM

How about lying about his credentials? Does that factor into your “Brown Shirting” conspiracy theory?

you must not have heard the explosion before the verdict fell.

|Zach|

07-25-2007, 03:07 PM

Tenure is a tough nut to crack. Glad they found a way to take care of business.

Radar Chief

07-25-2007, 03:10 PM

BEP, is there ever a point in time where Churchill is responsible for his own actions, words? Or will he always be the hapless victim of grand conspiracies by “the man” meant to keep a brown brothah down?

Radar Chief

07-25-2007, 03:12 PM

What took so long? He can't be fired for saying something stupid and inflammatory. He can be fired for plagiarism, and he was. As for why the investigation took so long?

Tenure is a tough nut to crack. Glad they found a way to take care of business.

Sorry guys, that was a rhetorical question posted for the chance to be a sarcastic smart ass. ;)